


Sounds Like A Great Idea

by Ink_stained_quills



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Basketball AU, Basketball! Kageyama and Theater! Hinata, KageHina - Freeform, Multi, Theater AU, yamayachi - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:16:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23176819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink_stained_quills/pseuds/Ink_stained_quills
Summary: Theater Nerd! Hinata and Basketball! Kageyama.“Dude,”  Hinata says.  “Have you gotten any sleep?  Like, at all?”Yamaguchi merely shrugs and hands Hinata another costume.  “Yachi and Kiyoko-san wanted you to try this on, get fitted.”“Thanks.”  Hinata takes the outfit and looks at it, taking in the layers of lace.  “... people in the Victorian era were on crack, weren’t they?”“Probably,”  Yamaguchi mumbles, then slips out of the room to give the redhead privacy.
Relationships: Hanamaki Takahiro/Matsukawa Issei, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Yachi Hitoka/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 13
Kudos: 131





	1. Hinata

**Author's Note:**

> I read plenty of Jesse Andrews and it's influenced my style for this one

The first time they met was illogical, violent, and played on repeat for days after it occured.

So of course, Hinata looks back on it if not fondly, then with little regard for how others might perceive it.

So it was Tuesday, right? Or maybe Wednesday. Definitely a day ending in y. But basically, Hinata knew that it was something different. Something unusual - something that, in itself, probably wouldn’t have happened if the universe didn’t have a strange sense of humor.

But to get to the point: it all started when his geometry teacher assigned seats.

Up until that moment, his life had been fairly routine: Step 1, Bike to school. Hope he hadn’t forgotten his lunch, or whatever prop he’d borrowed (read: temporarily stolen) to acquaint himself with better. Step 2, Get to rehearsal. Do warmups with the rest of the club. Step 3, Go to classes (ugh). Step 4, Go back to rehearsal. Step 5, Go home and do homework (or… you know, practice his lines).

Rehearsal is, to be perfectly honest, Hinata’s favorite part of the day. He can work out all his energy, attempt to improve his (frankly nonexistent) vocal range, and act. His friends are there, too, which made the whole ordeal of actually going to classes worth it.

“Hinata!” Nishinoya calls from across the auditorium. The shorter boy casts a frustrated glance up at the lights hanging from the ceiling, then idly waves a hand. “Can you grab someone to help me with this, I want to change the filter to blue lighting.”

“Is Hanamaki-san here?” Hinata suggests, shrugging off the unintentional sting. He knows he’s too short to help, but Noya-san could at least pretend to forget, dammit!

Considering this for a moment, Nishinoya makes a face. “Dunno. I think he’s out with his boyfriend.”

“The jock one?” Hinata asks. “Isn’t he even taller than Hanamaki-san?”

“You’ve gotta be tall to play basketball, yeah?”

Hinata lets out a thoughtful ‘mm’ noise and progresses to the back of the stage, peering into the changing room. “Yamaguchi?”

A tall, skinny boy pokes his head out from behind a rack. His freckles are in stark contrast to the paleness of his skin. Yamaguchi yawns, face opening wider than Hinata thinks is healthy, and waved halfheartedly.

“Dude,” Hinata says. “Have you gotten any sleep? Like, at all?”

Yamaguchi merely shrugs and hands Hinata another costume. “Yachi and Kiyoko-san wanted you to try this on, get fitted.”

“Thanks.” Hinata takes the outfit and looks at it, taking in the layers of lace. “... people in the Victorian era were on crack, weren’t they?”

“Probably,” Yamaguchi mumbles, then slips out of the room to give the redhead privacy.

~~~

Hinata emerges from the room ten minutes later and two pounds of fabric heavier, rubbing a hand over his face. “Yachi,” he whines, “this costume is going to make it impossible to move on stage.”

“Impossible,” the junior member of the costume crew tells him around a mouthful of pins. “If I hem this - you’ve got the most enthusiasm and stage presence of practically everyone in theater, Hinata.”

“Still, I look stupid.”

Yachi looks up from her work and studies him levely. “Well, I never said you didn’t.”

“Hanamaki!” Nishinoya yells across the auditorium, and waves a hand in the air. “Actually, no, get your tall ass boyfriend to fix this light!”

Matsukawa moves over, reaches up, and swaps the filters. “What must it be like to possess such height,” Nishinoya and Hinata mumble in unison, then shrug.

“Hey, could we watch a bit of your practice today?” Matsukawa asks, one arm wrapped around Hanamaki’s waist. “We’ve got a day off today, Coach Ukai’s got paperwork or something.”

“I think we’ll have to surgically remove you from Hanamaki’s side at this point.” Suga sweeps into the room, beaming.

“Suga-san!” Hinata yelps, then rushes over to receive headpats. Sugawara laughs and breezes onto the stage, snapping his fingers for lights. (No one’s sure how he does that, but they turn on every time.)

Nishinoya’s more skeptical. “‘We?’”

“Well,” Matsukawa pauses. “The entire basketball team?”

And then it’s chaos.

Jocks absolutely POUR into the room, disrupting the organized business of the auditorium, and Hinata’s brown eyes widen in shock and mild horror. He valiantly resists the urge to hiss like a cat and vanish into the props room. 

“I can’t act in front of people!” Hinata hisses, then reevaluates. “Uh, I mean -”

“You’ll probably shatter their eardrums anyway,” Tsukishima snarks. Yamaguchi stumbles out of the back room, sees the blond, and flops into the seat next to him. Tsukishima scans him, then raises a single eyebrow. “Did you even go home last night?”

Yamaguchi lets out a long, drawn out sigh of “You’re sweaty” and proceeds to ignore the world. Hinata envies him. 

Basketball team members are spilling out of every corner, asking if they can climb to the catwalk, wanting to play things on the projector, and it makes Hinata twitchy. Suga simply eyes the space consideringly and wanders over to Daichi, who’s got a basketball under one arm and looks lost until he sees his friend.

Nishinoya’s split off as well, claiming he’s “searching for the stage crew” but really he’s looking for Asahi and Tanaka and everyone knows it. Yachi is deep in discussion about some outfit with the head of the costume crew, Kiyoko, and basically everyone’s in their own world.

So Hinata’s uncomfortable and basically on edge, which he hates with a passion because it almost never happens except for stage fright… and then he backs up into someone tall and bony. “Frick,” he mutters, and spins.

“Watch where you’re going!” The guy snaps, making Hinata bristle in turn.

“Actually, you watch where you’re going,” the redhead replies snidely. “This is my theater.”

The kid can’t argue with that. Instead, he turns away and promptly trips over a box. Hinata snickers at him, which puts several events in motion:

One, the boy’s cheeks flame bright red and it contrasts with his pale skin tone. Hinata thinks he could fix that with stage makeup.

Two, Daichi turns to look at the pair. This leads to 2a, which is Kageyama trying to save face in front of his captain and 2b, Hinata fearing for his life for multiple reasons.

Three, the strange basketball player and Hinata get into a fistfight.

Let it not be said who started it, as there are wildly conflicting accounts (though it was definitely the jock), but for the record:

Four, Iwaizumi finished it.

Five, possibly the worst of all, the two are sentenced to the ultimate punishment: buying snacks for the comatose Yamaguchi and locating the absentee set crew members.

Basically, Hinata and the basketball kid are stuck in this strange feedback loop of “I won’t ask for your name if you don’t ask for mine,” and that’s more than fine with both parties, even though they’ll be stuck in the auditorium together for the rest of the day.

~~~

Maybe it started there, but Hinata likes to think it properly began in geometry, considering he doesn’t want to taint the theater with any negative experiences. That way, he can blame Mrs. Gerber instead of Matsukawa-san.

Mrs. Gerber: Today we’re going to move into our assigned seats.  
Hinata: (internally) Okay, this will be fine.  
Random Jock: *says nothing because he’s a dumb jock that has never done anything interesting enough to make Hinata notice the guy’s in his class*  
Mrs. Gerber: - and here we’ll have Kageyama and Hinata.

Because Hinata’s a bit of a social butterfly, he’s engaged with most of his class before, despite only having known them for a few months. He’s a theater kid, after all, and he’s definitely the kind of theater kid people remember for his ‘striking personality’. Also he’s a 5’3” ginger. He’s easy to remember.

So he flops into his new seat (which is closer to the teacher’s desk than he’d prefer, probably because he talks to whoever he’s assigned to sit next to) and scans the room. Jock kid stands, glances over, and pulls a face.

“... Kageyama?” Hinata ventures, praying he’s wrong.

The basketball guy nods slowly and slinks into the seat next to him. They both begin to shift their chairs away from each other, pushing themselves as far away as they can get without being in the aisles.

Mrs. Gerber: *avoids breaking down in a flood of pained tears*  
Hinata: *moving his chair* screeeeeeech  
Kageyama: *also moving his chair* screeeeeeeeeeeeeech  
Hinata: *trying not to be outdone* screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech

And so on.

In his next class, Yachi attempts to convince him it’s not so bad. Hinata accepts none of it, claiming, “His merciless eyes stare into my soul” and then stealing Tsukishima’s snack. Tsukishima glares at him, but allows it (Hinata is Yachi’s best friend, and she’s Yamaguchi’s girlfriend, and Yamaguchi is Tsukishima’s best friend, so they’re stuck in this odd cycle).

Tsukishima exchanges a Look with Yachi, one they exchange many times throughout the course of dealing with Hinata, and suggests, “Why not try to get along with him?”

“Nope,” Hinata rejects the idea at the speed of light. “He’s terrible and I refuse to interact with him.”

Yachi Looks at Tsukishima again. Hinata scowls at them. “Stop communicating through your silent language known only to blonds and let me complain.”

“I just would’ve thought he’s your type, is all…” Yachi points out, letting the sentence trail off.

“My - you - what?” sputters Hinata. “He’s probably one of those jock who’s determined to be one hundred percent straight and manly all the time, he’s obnoxious, he’s terrible at math -”

“You’re two of those things and that’s never bothered you before,” Tsukishima says, scribbling down the English notes.

Hinata verbally bemoans the days he met the pair, ignoring when Yachi reminds him that he’s only had like two interactions with Kageyama.

~~~

The worst part is, they’re right. Kageyama is his type, which makes it horrible that they met like that and now Hinata can’t even stare at him from afar. In fact, the two try not to speak to each other at all.

Mrs. Gerber: All right, now we're doing translations.  
Hinata: Uh - I forgot my protractor?  
Mrs. Gerber: *visibly overjoyed to have an excuse to get Kageyama and Hinata to speak* Well, you’ll just have to borrow one from your neighbor.  
Hinata: *long silence*

Hinata attempts to use his binder as a straight edge until Mrs. Gerber forces him to ask Kageyama for a protractor.

Hinata: Fine.  
Kageyama: *pulls out a sheet of paper and a protractor*  
Mrs. Gerber: What is happening here.  
Hinata: I hope you’re happy, ma’am.

Kageyama adds a mark to the side of the sheet that says “Kageyama”, making the list of favours he’s given more than Hinata’s. Mrs. Gerber presses a hand to her face, regretting teaching the two boys and/or highschoolers as a whole.

~~~

Hinata’s at rehearsal when Yachi storms out of the back room. “What have they done?”

“What?” Hinata responds intelligently.

Yamaguchi follows her out, Kenma on his heels. “They’ve sprayed something in the costume room that settles into the costumes - Kiyoko’s allergic to it - everything smells like a hazmat area!”

Kenma looks up, nodding. “Shouyou, I’d advise not going back there.” Then he moves to join his fellow set crew members.

“What’re we going to do?” Hanamaki mumbles, waving a hand in front of his nose. “Can’t have the poor children’s noses falling off… hey, wait.”

Suga’s sitting curled up in one of the auditorium seats, paging through a script. “Well, out with it.”

“Hear me out,” Hanamaki says slowly, instantly putting the drama club on edge. “They came to us last time, so this time -”

“Oh, stare at your boyfriend on your own time!” Iwaizumi snorts as he marches past, arms full of costumes. “Just because your filthy mind -”

“- my mind is clean and pure -”

“- want to see him sweaty and I can’t take my friend drooling over anyone today -”

“- Oikawa will be there -”

“Sounds like a great idea, let’s go.”

Suga stops flipping pages and stands, pulling the attention of the bickering group. “Alright, let’s go.”

“Woooooah!” Yamaguchi and Yachi link arms, skipping up the aisle, and Hinata chases after them, laughing as the duo tosses ideas back and forth about how they should cheer for Tsukishima.

“I’m surprised you’re okay with it, actually,” Yamaguchi remarks. “I mean -”

Yachi elbows him. “Shut it!”

“- Kageyama’s on the team, yeah?” He finishes, wincing. “Whoops.”

Hinata blinks once, twice, and then realizes where they’re going. “This had better not count for a favour on my part.”


	2. Kageyama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fence is basically Haikyuu!! but more obviously gay and with swords
> 
> I've decided that songs for this story are Honeybee by The Head And The Heart and False Confidence by Noah Kahan

“How is your best grade Gym?” Tanaka whacks Kageyama on the back, at a level of pressure that he views as friendly but would probably kill a seventh grader. “I mean, you’ve gotta be a first-rate dunce -”

“You’re no better,” Daichi reminds the second year. “Or do I need to pull up your grades? Because as captain, I can do that…”

Tanaka rubs his head rebelliously. “At least I’m not failing English.”

“Shocking, considering you can’t even speak Japanese.” At that passing remark from Tsukishima, Kageyama bolts upright and scowls. He can’t deny it.

“Okay, you lot!” Coach Ukai emerges from his desk. It’s been pushed onto the sidelines so he can watch everyone work as he busies himself with whatever keeps him off the court at any given time. There isn’t really room for the desk, but no one’s willing to bring it up. Legend has it someone asked about the piece of furniture once, and was never seen again. “I’ve got plenty of work to do, so you need to find somewhere else to memorize your signals or something.”

Stifling a groan, Kageyama turns to the rest of the team. “... where are we going?”

“I mean,” Masukawa begins, and is instantly drowned out by a wave of complaints. 

“We don’t want to see you be all disgusting with Makki!” Oikawa sulks. “Bad enough I just have to sit there and watch Iwa-chan every time a new play runs.”

“Isn’t the theater pretty dark?” Daichi muses, as if calculating exactly how much work will get done if he allows the change of scenery.

Tanaka leaps into the air, cheering. “Hell yeah - Noya’s gotta show me how he shifts the lights so it looks like a dick! Although maybe we should make sure Kiyoko-san isn’t there first.”

Daichi presses a hand to his temples as Kageyama edges back to stand with Tsukishima. Though he dislikes the guy, they’re the only first years on the team, which forms a sort of comradery. In a rare gesture of goodwill, the blond inclines his head and asks; “What do you think?”

“I don’t really care,” Kageyama shrugs. “I mean, I’ve only been in the auditorium for orientation and speeches from the principal.”

“What’s the consensus?” The captain claps his hands together, raising an eyebrow.

“Theater’s good.” Tsukishima calls from the back, bored tone betraying no explanation. He shrugs. “Yamaguchi and Yachi are in there.”

“Isn’t there another first year in there?” Oikawa taps a finger to his chin. “The hair’s like… an orange chimpanzee wrapped itself around his head.”

“No clue what you’re talking about.” denies Tsukishima.

Daichi nods briskly, then waves everyone out of the room. Oikawa trails after the rest of the group, winking at random boys and girls in the hallway. “You know, you’re a terrible flirt.” Daichi remarks conversationally to his vice captain.

“Just drumming up interest in our matches!” Oikawa whistles innocently, skipping ahead. He pauses to talk to Matsukawa, attempts to trip Kageyama, makes a face when it doesn’t work, and laughs when Kageyama stumbles anyway.

Oikawa: So how’re you and Makki doing?  
Matsukawa: Did you just try to trip a first year  
Oikawa: Me - never!  
Matsukawa: Because we only have two so if you take out one, there goes half of them  
Oikawa: I know I know  
Matsukawa: We can’t make more first years.  
Oikawa:  
Matsukawa:  
Oikawa: Oh, it’s okay, he tripped without my help  
Daichi: You have a shitty personality

And then they’re at the auditorium. Matsukawa goes in first “Because we don’t want to overwhelm anyone!” and spends a good five minutes while the rest of the team listens at the doors. Finally Tanaka trips and pushes them open and they surge into the theater, cheering at all the little details the drama club has set up.

Yamaguchi comes out of the back room and steals Tsukishima after a bit, so Kageyama has no choice but to awkwardly edge around and “- not touch anything, so help me”. He fears the wrath of Yachi, as all sane people should.

However while he’s edging around and tiptoeing and trying not to be a nuisance, a tiny kid with a bright shock of orange hair backs into him. “Frick,” the guy says, looking up at Kageyama, and his big brown eyes grow wide.

“Watch where you’re going!” Kageyama snaps, to which the redhead responds; “You watch where you’re going, this is my theater.”

It’s a little impudent to refer to a place as yours when it doesn’t belong to you and you’re only a freshman, but the raven-haired teen knows what the other boy means is, “This isn’t your place.”

Which is fair, except the bump made him off balance, so he turns away and promptly crashes into a box. Daichi looks over at him, Kageyama goes red, the kid LAUGHS and tries to hide it - so the basketball player does the only thing he can do.

Get into a fistfight with the guy until his senpai comes over to break it up. (In retrospect, a terrible idea: he could get suspended from the team for this, and the theater kid could get removed from the play.)

The pair are sent into the hallway for a snack run. They’re deadly silent the entire time.

~~~

Which is what makes it worse when Kageyama looks up and finds him everywhere - in the halls, chatting with other first years, high fiving second years at lunch, getting tutored and good-naturedly scolded by third years, and finally in Kageyama’s own geometry class. They guy’s a social butterfly, emotions spilling everywhere and opinions flying without getting on people’s bad side.

Basically, the opposite of Kageyama.

Then they sit next to each other, and have silently agreed to never speak or, really, look in each other’s direction again.

The class notices, but they don’t care - Kageyama’s never spoken to any of them much anyways, and they can still whisper-shout to Hinata. Hinata: the mystery theater kid that Kageyama has never properly noticed before, but commands attention.

How hasn’t he noticed the redhead before now? It’s annoying, because if Hinata is one thing, it’s noticeable and popular. (That’s two things. Fuck math.) He integrates into countless different social groups easily, something Kageyama envies but can’t emulate, chats with teachers like it’s nothing and somehow gets performance anxiety while managing to be excellent when he calms down, keeping him at a human level.

Also, he’s really damn cute and oblivious. Kageyama’s seen at least three girls attempt to confess to the other boy, only one of whom Hinata had actually realized was confessing. It’s kind of ridiculous. Especially since he’s stuck sulking in this strange limbo, with nothing but the sparks of competition to fuel him…

Hinata: … ugh, can I borrow a pencil?  
Kageyama: What’s the magic word  
Hinata: Dumbass  
Kageyama: I know you are but what am I?  
Hinata: Hecking gosh!  
Kageyama:   
Hinata: I have a seven year old sister okay

~~~

And then Hinata shows up at a basketball practice.

“What the hell?” Kageyama almost drops the basketball, stiffening. “Why are they here?”

“Beats me,” Matsukawa replies, loping over to drape an arm over Hanamaki’s shoulders. “Hey.”

Hanamaki offers a friendly nod at the basketball team. “Hey.” 

Then they start making out, and Takeda (the drama club advisor) starts shepherding people over into the bleachers. Ukai scowls. “God damn it, Matsukawa.”

“There’s no god here,” Hanamaki replies, “Merely sweaty sports jerseys.”

“Nasty.” comments Iwaizumi as he passes the pair, and Matsukawa reaches into his shorts’ pockets and pulls out salt, which he proceeds to throw at the theater kid. Iwaizumi ducks and retaliates by throwing his entire shirt at Matsukawa, and Oikawa lets out a small chirp.

Daichi shakes his head. “Practice was nice while it lasted.”

Yamaguchi and Yachi are babbling with Tsukishima about something, and Hinata is idly spinning a basketball. The four stop speaking for a moment, Tsukishima grumbles something like “That’s not what I said and you know it”, and then the shorter three burst into unrestrained laughter. Even Kageyama’s grumpy friend cracks a slight smile.

“What’s with the wistful glances?” A boy even shorter than Hinata pops up beside Kageyama, smirking. 

Kageyama debates replying, but is spared having to choose by Tanaka. “Yuu!”

“Ryuu!” The guy yells back (oh, this must be Nishinoya - Tanaka-san’s best friend) and bounds over, both chanting something. “I was gonna tough out the smell, but then I was like oh wait Ryuu’ll be there plus I think my throat was closing up -”

Kageyama simply joins the rest of the team in shooting baskets before Daichi summons them together. “I know this isn’t what usually happens during practice,” he admits, “but we’re going to do some three-on-threes.”

He’s set on a team with Matsukawa and Oikawa, which makes him feel almost small. Oikawa complains about having to work with Kageyama, but clams up when Matsukawa reminds him exactly who’s in the audience. “Well,” Oikawa says, “I guess I’ll have to mercilessly crush Tobio-chan another time.”

“Remember that discussion we had about having morals?’

“Never happened.”

Tanaka and Kuroo joke about “threesomes and three n’ three games” while Tsukishima (the other member of their team) attempts to pretend he doesn’t know them. And that he’s forgotten how to play basketball.

Still, Kageyama tunes them out (it gets easier and easier as the months pass) and dribbles a ball. He sets himself to a rhythm, shifting as they begin, and flows alongside his teammates.

Oikawa’s an excellent player, but a bad sport, while Matsukawa has a calming vibe to him that keeps the team settled. On the other hand, Tanaka has boundless energy to counteract Tsukishima’s apparent disinterest in sweating for any reason ever. Kuroo, as the oldest, seems to feel the pressure to be mature, something he rarely displays to Kageyama off the court.

All in all, it’s an interesting game. Oikawa doesn’t “accidentally” attempt to murder him once, and Matsukawa grins at him when he makes a particularly difficult three pointer to pull them ahead. Their opponents are fun to play, and Kageyama settles into a zone. During their break (they’re playing a ten minute game with a brief respite in the middle), Tsukishima walks over to him.

“Don’t look now, but shorty’s watching.” Tsukishima smirks as Kageyama jolts upright, remembering at last that they have an audience. “Oi, I said don’t look - you know what, never mind.”

The raven haired boy feels anxious, but he decides anyone would. Just because a cute boy and all of his friends, who are also your friend’s friends, who you’ve been quietly bickering with for days is watching… yeah. You would too.

Tsukishima: Damn, hope you don’t fuck up the rest of the game.  
Kageyama: Shut  
Tsukishima: God, wouldn’t that be embarrassing?  
Oikawa: HA  
Oikawa: Actually though, Tobio-chan, Iwa-chan is also here so as great as it would be to watch you strike out in front of your crush we gotta impress.  
Kuroo: In your dreams!  
Matsukawa: Hey isn’t your friend Kenma he-  
Kuroo: IT’S TIME FOR BASKETBALL

So it comes down to this.

Kageyama’s got the ball in his hands, not able to zone into the game like he was before. He’s perfectly aware that this is possibly the one place he can be impressive, and he doesn’t want to blow it, which makes him even more nervous. Plus, he’s pretty sure Oikawa-san will kill him if he misses.

Tanaka’s guarding him, up in his face, while Tsukishima lurks. There’s no time to pass, so Kageyama pushes up, jumping as he throws, and it’s like in that anime (Kuroko’s Basketball) his older brother used to watch - the one that got them into basketball in the first place.

He shoots, watches it tip around the rim for a (seemingly) terrifyingly long amount of time that was probably only two seconds. Then it swishes in, and he lands. His fingers hurt, and Kageyama shakes them out as the other two members of his team high five him, all three far too worked up for a practice game.

Then Kageyama looks over to the bleachers, and Hinata’s eyes are closed. He’s laughing at something Yachi said, whole body vibrating with amusement, and Kageyama’s heart sinks.

Whatever. It’s not like he was looking for anything anyways.


	3. Hinata

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi
> 
> Sooooo, get ready for like eight oc's that I've become very attached to very quickly.

Holy sugar, Kageyama can play. Hinata most likely doesn’t have to censor himself in his own thoughts, but better safe than sorry - if Natsu heard him swear and picked up the habits, he’d never forgive himself. (And also his mother would murder him.)

At one point, he’d had to close his eyes, somewhat overwhelmed, and Hinata thinks, this is the feeling. The one he’d felt when watching Masaki Okada act on screen, felt electricity racing through his veins, and realized this was what he wanted to do. Because it was clear Kageyama loves basketball as much as Hinata adores the theater, which makes him think the other boy can’t be that bad.

And then he opens his eyes and Kageyama’s looking at him. Hinata raises a hand, waves dorkily, and immediately regrets being born. But it was worth it, probably, because the other boy smiles ever so slightly while tossing the basketball aside, and for a single glorious moment it looks like he’s going to cross to the bleachers.

“Fiiiiiine, Tobio-chan, you have some use,” Oikawa admits, which causes Kageyama to turn back to his teammates.

Yamaguchi elbows Hinata in the side (lightly) and Yachi whistles. Hinata puts his hands over his face, quietly shrieking. “Teaming up on me is not fair!”

Just then, Kenma slinks down to throw water bottles at Kuroo, who snatches them out of the air and blows kisses to the shorter boy. Kenma ignores him. Kuroo acts wounded but is used to it.

“Look.” Yachi advises, “Honey, if you want to talk so badly, go down there.”

Flushing with embarrassment, Hinata internally admits that he should go just that. He also internally admits his pride will shrivel up and die a bit. “Okay…” Yamaguchi gives him a thumbs up as he picks his way down the bleachers, then tosses his pride out the window and leaps down the last two sets of stairs, hurdling Iwaizumi and high fiving Nishinoya.

“Kageyama!” Hinata yells, bolting across the gym and skidding to a stop in front of the group. They turn to him, and he lurches back, instinct propelling him to hide behind Kageyama and Tsukishima. “Tall…”

Matsukawa strikes a pose while Oikawa lifts himself onto his tiptoes, while Tanaka tips his head back and laughs. Tsukishima merely rolls his eyes, shoving Hinata into Kageyama. The redhead’s reminded of the last time they’d been in the position: back in the theater, before they’d pushed themselves into an odd standoff.

“You’re actually really good!”

“What’d you mean, actually?” Kageyama growls, eyes shuttering over. The high from their win is fading, and Hinata feels the rift sweep back in.

He shrugs. “I mean, you’re a good player. I know nothing about basketball, but that was really impressive - the lay up in the middle was cool!”

“You know what a lay up is?” Kageyama asks, mildly interested, and Oikawa sighs.

“Alright,” the third year says, shooing them off the court, “go flirt elsewhere. Some of us still have people to seduce with our excellent jump shots.”

Hinata fiddles with his fingers, waiting for Kageyama to angrily deny the ‘flirting’ comment, but the biting retort never comes. That (plus his friends dancing on the bleachers in an odd version of support) gives him the courage to ask: “D’you wanna start over?”

“Yeah,” Kageyama says, slowly. “How do we do that, exactly?”

“Uhhhhh…”

~~~

“Lemme borrow a piece of paper.”

Kageyama scowls at him. “You have a notebook.”

“Yeah, but… I forgot it.” Hinata replies easily, rummaging through his bag in search of his pencil case.

“Fine,” the raven haired boy gives in, ripping two pages out of his book and handing Hinata one. “Can I borrow a pen?”

“Mmhm.” Handing over the pen, he offers his neighbor a smirk. “Hey, do you understand the english homework?”

“Nope.”

Mrs. Gerber watches the exchange with fascination. 

Mrs. Gerber: … so you don’t hate each other any more?  
Hinata: Nah  
Kageyama: *pulls out favor sheet* That’s one for each of us, so - *mumbling*  
Hinata: What’s that?  
Kageyama: You’re. Temporarily. Ahead.  
Hinata: Take that, Bakageyama!  
Mrs. Gerber:  
Mrs. Gerber: Today we’re learning about Transformations

~~~

Kageyama comes to Hinata’s dress rehearsals sometimes, and now Hinata goes to some of his games. When he enters the gym today, there’s already quite a few people. He raises an eyebrow at his friend (how has their audience doubled) and receives only a suspicious avoidance of eyes.

Curiously, there’s a large family in the stands. A girl who looks like she plays some kind of sport that requires amazing legs (she’d get along well with Daichi-san) is slumped over a slightly older looking boy, the two seemingly about seventeen or eighteen.

Another girl is chatting with another kid who looks about Natsu’s age, though the second girl is attempting to ignore her. A young woman, who seems to be the oldest, is holding a baby boy. Hinata slides into a seat near them, and is rewarded by a widening of eyes when Kageyama looks up at where he’s settled.

While he’s playing, the family behind Hinata cheers louder than anyone could possibly cheer, benefitted by their sheer numbers. Kageyama exits the court with blazing cheeks. “Kageyama!” Hinata calls after him, jumping after him in a swift motion, sweeping his legs over the side of the bleachers.

Kageyama pauses drinking his water bottle, propping an arm up on Hinata’s head. “Oi.”

“Tobio~!” One of the girls Hinata had sat near pounces on the basketball player, wrapping her arms around his waist, and Hinata feels his heart sink. Of course, Kageyama has an adorable girlfriend who comes to all his… games… wait.

“Get off, Sakura.” Kageyama complains, shoving at her arms. “Don’t you have a tennis thing soon?”

“Not for a few hours.” Sakura pouts. “In the meantime, I came to see you. Uh, so did everyone else.”

Kageyama rolls his eyes. “I can see that.”

“Is this your sister?” Hinata blurts, eyes wide.

“His twin, actually.” Sakura sticks her hand out to shake, and the final puzzle piece clicks into place. Their hair is the same, even though hers is cut in a bob and clipped back.

Hinata shakes it, then turns around. “So all those people -”

“Are our siblings, yes.”

“Kageyama!” Hinata howls. “I know it’s only been like a month, but I didn’t know you had ANY siblings, yet alone a twin or like seven?”

“He doesn’t talk about us?” The young woman holding the baby flicks Kageyama (although Hinata supposes they’re all a Kageyama) on the forehead teasingly. “Figures.”

Hinata learns that Kageyama has eight siblings, which mildly horrifies him. He has two younger sisters (Akari, seven and Hina, nine) and a younger brother (Akio, three). There’s also Sakura (Kageyama’s twin), Aia (she of the awesome legs, seventeen), and Fumihiro (the other boy, eighteen). 

The young woman is Amaya, twenty three. There’s also Hibiki, who had an important test today (he’s twenty six and pursuing a doctor career, they’re all very proud).

Hinata is, to put it in words, awe-inspired and terrified. He likes them, and he’s very impressed, but at the same time he’s wondering if they have some kind of dark secret? After all, Kageyama has never talked about them before. In their, ahem, rather tumultuous friendship it’s entirely possible Hinata’s simply never delved that deep into his friend’s home life.

Because it’s clear he loves his siblings and they love him. Hinata feels the urge to fold himself into their lives, become someone they can’t easily remove, get to know the people so close to Kageyama’s heart. In other words, his attraction to his friend has cemented itself as a crush.

Argh, that’s complicating things! Hinata thinks to himself, and Hina pokes him as they walk out to ask “You okay? You’re scrunching up your face.”

“I’m fine!” he covers quickly, gaze drifting to Kageyama. “Just… thinking about something.”

She smiles like she knows what he means, and he feels himself flush. “Well,” she declares, putting her small hand in his, “I like you.”

“Thank you,” Hinata tells her, and means it.

~~~

After the Kageyamas have left, (Sakura: Don’t be a stranger, Hinata-Sho! Kageyama: Please don’t flirt with my friend. Sakura: ;p) Hinata bikes back home in a daze. Natsu greets him as he enters his house, letting him pick her up and spin her around like she’s still five years old. They both love it.

At ten, Natsu is the spitting image of their mother (but then again, they both are) with the temperament of a golden retriever. Hinata tells her so at any given time. “Shouyou-niiiiiii, why are you always out at school so late?”

Hinata spins her once more, then sets her down. “Well, I’m watching basketball games.”

“You’re too short for that.” She tells him bluntly, eyeing the gap in their heights.

“I’m still taller for now!” Hinata scolds her, ruffling her hair. “You’ve got some nerve, gnat.”

In response to this slight, she jumps in an attempt to become taller for a moment. Hinata jumps higher, so she jumps higher still, and it becomes a war until their mother emerges from the kitchen.

“Ah, Shou? Could you set the table, please?” The two freeze, glance at each other, and rush to the dining room, each hoping to outrun the other in order to grab napkins. Hinata turned chores into competitions very early on, and as a result things get done much faster. They eat a mostly uneventful dinner.

Hinata: *eating food*  
Natsu: so then Ichika told me that Yui told her that Eiji told her that his older brother  
Hinata’s mom: Your newest project’s going well, hmm?  
Hinata’s dad: Yes, my boss was just saying  
Hinata: Isn’t Eiji the one Ichika doesn’t like?  
Natsu: Yeah but Yui likes him so she’s a go between

And basically it’s chaos. Hinata wonders if it’s the same chaos at the Kageyama household (with that many kids, it’s got to be badlam sometimes) but thinks that they’re probably a bit more refined. The theater kid’s family is like this constantly, running several conversations at once, and it only builds when there’s anyone else over.

Hinata pictures Kageyama sitting sandwiched in between Sakura and Akari, passing food across the table to Fumihiro as Aia works on homework or debates soccer plays. If he goes over to Kageyama’s house, he’d likely have to call them by their first names - there’s too many of them to just call “Kageyama” and assume his friend will know which one Hinata’s calling to.

His face reddens as he realizes he’ll probably need to call Kageyama “Tobio”. Just because there’s so many Kageyamas, of course. And that’s assuming he gets invited over at all, because really they’re both very busy…

“To be or not to be,” Hinata repeats suddenly, taking advantage of Natsu’s temporary pause to breathe. She jumps on the change of topic, displaying a chunk of cauliflower on her fork as a faux skull.

“To be born, or not born, that is the question.” Natsu finishes, beaming at her brother, and Hinata eats the offered cauliflower as he pushes a carrot onto her plate.

Above her indignant squeals, their mother passes the bread bowl around their small table. “How was the game, Shouyou?”

“Fun,” Hinata responds, snatching two rolls and dangling one above Natsu’s head. “They won, but it was kinda close. Hey, did’ja know Kageyama’s got like twenty siblings?”

“Did you,” corrects his mother, smiling. “And no, I did not.”

“You going to have him over here soon?” Hinata’s father probes.

Letting out an embarrassed groan, Hinata stuffs bread into his mouth. “Dunno - we’ve both got so much going on.”

“Yes, how’s the play going?”

Hinata jumps on the subject change, babbling about how at rehearsal this happened and this wasn’t going quite right, but tucks the thought of interacting with Kageyama outside of school or games in the back of his mind.


	4. Kageyama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: Kiss Me Like Nobody's Watching
> 
> God I live for the idea of infinite Kageyama siblings...

“So when’re we seeing Hinata again?” Sakura needles.

“After much deliberation,” Kageyama responds tiredly, “the answer is never.”

His twin snorts, headphones loose and bulky around her neck, and elbows him. “Bullshit.”

“Watch your fucking language!” Fumihiro yells from the kitchen, and there’s the sound of a light smack as Aia scolds him.

Hina walks into the living room from upstairs, book in hand, feeding her light brown hair into her mouth. “But I liked him. You do too, I can tell.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want to expose him to all you heathens.” retorts Kageyama, rolling his eyes as Akari scurries into the room.

“Where’s Amaya?” Aia calls, slamming the fridge. “If she’s eaten all my pudding again, I’m going to scream.”

“With her fiance!” Sakura shouts back. “They’re doing wedding stuff. Amaya wants a purple theme, but Yua thinks she’d prefer silver.”

Kageyama pushes himself up from the couch, tucking the basketball he’s been spinning under one arm. Undeterred, Sakura follows him. “It’s just been a little while since you’ve brought a friend over, Tobes. I mean -”

“We aren’t all friends with our entire school, Sakura.” Kageyama replies, sighing. “Not all of us have bold haircuts and purple streaks and whatnot.”

“I wasn’t implying… Look, we’re just happy, okay?” Sakura leans against their room’s door frame, kicking an errant shirt under her bed. “So you don’t have to worry about that. Although you might have to worry about Hina attempting to marry him.”

Laughing slightly, Kageyama shrugs. “I don’t think she’s his type.”

“You might want to think about what exactly his type is, then.” Her eyes twinkle as she leaves the room.

Kageyama wants to ask her what exactly she means by that, but has enough dignity left to refrain. 

~~~

Twenty minutes later, he’s back downstairs. “Fine,” Kageyama grumps, sprawling onto the couch. “How’d you, uh.”

“But you never want to hear our romance stories, dearest brother!” Sakura gasps, delighted and completely unsurprised.

“Rrrrrrrromance?” Aia says, sliding in on stockinged feet. There’s a cut of pudding in her hands, a spoon in her mouth, and her long black hair is piled up onto her head in a messy bun. Her sweatpants are offset by the fact that she’s wearing a gleaming necklace.

Akari wrinkles her nose. “Ew. A, is that from Isao?”

“Mmhm,” Aia purrs.

“Just marry him already, why don’t you?” teases Akari (she’s a brunette who’s seven going on seventeen).

“Maybe I will!” The older girl says, fake serious. “You wanna get rid of me that easily?”

Fumihiro flops onto a beanbag, scooping up Akari and settling her in beside him. She squirms as he raises an eyebrow at Aia. “Then you’ll get out of the house and stop eating all the pudding. Go for it.”

“That’s Amaya and you know it.”

“Actually, it’s Hibiki and his girlfriend.” Hina remarks calmly, like she hasn’t just destroyed the conversation and several Kageyama brains.

Talking over the screeching that follows from the two oldest (present) siblings, Sakura yells, “Can we please get back to our brother’s non-existent love life, please?”

“Always up for making fun of Tobio,” Fumihiro snarks and blows the twins a kiss. Kageyama catches it, throws it away, and sticks his tongue out at the congregated children. 

Aia ruffles Fumihiro’s short, dark brown hair so that it sticks up, then waves for Sakura to continue. “Is this about the little redhead?”

“One would assume,” Sakura replies, then perks up. “Hey, that’s like the only color we’re missing!”

“We shall have the complete set of hair colors!” Akari rubs her hands together.

After a long pause, Kageyama lifts his head from the couch. “Are you going to help or torment me?”

“We can do both,” Sakura reminds him smugly, patting his hair.

Hina scoots over to Kageyama, putting her hand on his back in consolation. “Guys, don’t be mean to oniisan.” Hina is, no holds barred, Kageyama’s favorite little sister. Possibly his all time favorite, but Sakura clings to that position by sheer virtue of being his twin. (Alright, there’s more to it than that, but he’ll never let her know.)

“Shouldn’t someone be feeding Akio?” Fumihiro climbs up from the beanbag, all long limbs that he hasn’t quite grown into yet, and wanders upstairs to take care of their baby brother. With their father currently overseas on a work trip and their mother at the grocery store, they’re all responsible for the littlest Kageyama.

“Alright, poor baby,” Aia hums, “tell us your woes.”

“Hinata.”

“I need more in-depth woes than this, little brother.”

Stubbornly, Kageyama pouts. “Hinata.”

“Mmm.” says Akari. She’s unaffected by his moping, instead choosing to roll off the beanbag and grab a blanket. His littlest sister then proceeds to drape it over him, claiming “It’s soothing powers will heal you.”

“Aww, you aren’t too grown up for the healing blanket?” Sakura teases, causing Akari to flush angrily.

“Don’t tease,” Hina reminds her.

Sakura slides along the couch until she sits on Kageyama’s back, making him let out an “oof” under her weight. “Don’t complain, you.” she tells him, poking his shoulder. “This is all muscle.”

“What does he like?” Aia thinks aloud, looking at Kageyama. 

“Dunno,” the boy sullenly replies. 

Aia looks at him incredulously. “You don’t know anything that he likes?”

“... theater.”

“Perfect,” Sakura declares, then pauses. “Uh, what do we do with that?”

“You could reenact Romeo and Juliet for him!” Akari yells, then bursts out laughing.

Hina shakes her head. “Aki, have you ever seen or read Romeo and Juliet?”

“Yes,” the girl says gleefully.

Discounting Akari’s “genius idea” as the girl herself wraps Kageyama more securely in the blanket (at this point, he’s pretty sure she’s trying to discreetly smother him), the group debates alternatives.

“I mean, she’s got the right idea.” Fumihiro points out, having come back downstairs with Akio in his arms. “You’ve got to do something related to what he’s passionate about.”

Akio coos in his arms, and Kageyama feels a smile flit unbidden across his face. “What do you think, Aki the Second?”

“That nickname is going to get confusing when he grows up,” Akari muses from the rug.

“Oh,” Hina murmurs. “What if you did something like, related to basketball AND theater.”

“Like what?” Kageyama asks, interested despite himself. 

Sakura grins wickedly. “Oh, dear brother.

“We’re so glad you asked.”

“... but it was Hina’s idea,” Akari points out. “Why’re you trying to claim credit?”

“Shh,” Sakura hushes her.

~~~  
Kageyama shuffles his feet nervously, glancing back at his siblings. “Are you sure about this?”

“So sure!” Sakura whisper-yells back, beaming.

“Like, seventy percent.” Akari mutters.

Hina elbows her, then nods at Kageyama. “You’ve got this!”

“Don’t fuck up!” Aia and Fumihiro sing in unison.

“Did you practice this, stupid -”

“Kageyama?” 

“Hinata!” Kageyama whirls around, fumbles his phone, and watches it fall onto his friend’s shoes. “Uh.”

“You’re… at my dress rehearsal?” Hinata smiles with the force of twenty suns, picking up Kageyama’s phone and handing it back. “What, you finally came around to the worth of Shakespeare?”

“Not. Exactly?” Wincing, Kageyama clears his throat. “I was wondering if you’d -”

“Hinata!” A frantic shriek emanates from inside the auditorium, and the redhead jolts. “On in two!”

It’s only then that Kageyama fully takes in what Hinata’s wearing - Shakespearean clothing, with emphasis on the poofy outfits, velvet and lace. He looks ridiculous, and perfectly, absurdly, happy. This is his environment, it’s easy to see.

“Thanks, two!” Hinata calls back, whole body seizing up, and he casts a glance back into the theater before pleadingly looking at Kageyama. “Look, two means I’ve got to be in place, do you want to come in?” Then he looks over the raven haired boy’s shoulder and grins. “They can come too.”

Kageyama only has time to nod before he’s being towed into the auditorium, cheeks pinking as he attempts to memorize the feel of Hinata’s hand in his. His family follows, oohing and ahhing at the stage like everyone who hasn’t seen the theater decked out before. Hinata gives him another guilty glance before Kageyama waves him off. “You’ve got places to be.”

Then he’s off like a shot, Yachi trailing behind him as she hurriedly fixes his hat. The stage is a flurry of movement for a few more moments, and then the lights dim to black. Hina lets out a gasp, clings to Kageyama’s hand for a moment, then relaxes as the shock wears off. Then her attention is caught by the stage, where Iwaizumi is striding across the floor. He establishes himself quickly as the villain, and Kageyama spares his family a quick check (they’re enthralled) before settling into the story.

Hinata enters stage left, exchanges banter with Iwaizumi, etc., and Kageyama’s thrilled. Hinata’s character, while not the lead, is in many of the scenes. He turns out to be a jack of all trades, playing both sides with a smile, and comes out of the story a minor victor. He’s a funny character, with lots of dialogue, and it looks like a part Hinata’s having fun playing.

Is this what Kageyama looks like when he’s playing basketball? Does he have this, this energy that makes people sit up and notice? 

Because god, he wants it. 

When it’s over, they stretch and check phones and whatnot, but Kageyama lets himself sit for another moment, staying in the world Karasuno’s theater club has created. And sure, the production wasn’t perfect - it’s a dress rehearsal, not Broadway - but it was excellent (from a basketball player’s point of view).

“Hinata,” he says when the redhead emerges from backstage (back into gym shorts and a sweatshirt). “Uh, I had this whole thing prepared.”

“For what?” Hinata asks innocently.

Kageyama rolls his eyes. “I’m getting to that. And you’d better appreciate it, because I watched like seven musicals to find the best one.”

“Which ones?” Hinata screeches, eyes sparkling. “Hamilton? Wicked, Be More Chill, did you watch any older ones -?”

“There,” Kageyama stutters, “There was one called Twenty-One Chump Street.”

“I like that one too! Cousin is possibly my favorite of those songs, but...” The theater kid trails off, blinking. 

“I can’t sing!” Kageyama blurts.

Laughing, Hinata edges closer. “What song were you going to sing, Bakageyama, that you didn’t think of this before now?” 

“Well, I won’t sing it now that you’ve insulted me,” Kageyama fake-snaps, and Hinata leans in a bit more, whining, “Nooooooo!”

“Um,” he continues, feeling immensely foolish. “What the heck I gotta do-oo, to be with you?”

“What the heck I gotta do?” Sakura sings behind him, sounding just as terrible as he does.

Kageyama facepalms. “What the heck I gotta do to be with you?”

“What the heck I gotta do?” echoes the rest of his family, Hina helpfully covering Sakura’s mouth.

“Who do I have to be,” he finishes, voice breaking, “for you to be with me?”

“Holy shit,” someone whispers from backstage. Multiple people shush the speaker. “Sorry, continue!”

Hinata stares at Kageyama, lips pressed into a tight line. “Did you practice this?”

“Little bit?” The basketball player offers, hating how small his voice is. “Look, we can forget this happened, just -”

Hinata punches him in the side, grinning. “You don’t have to be anybody else, numbskull!”

“You’re the numbskull,” Kageyama retorts on instinct, then shakes himself. “Wait, so you’ll -”

“‘Course!” Hinata replies happily, and the curtain rustles with poorly concealed joy. “You guys can come out, you aren’t fooling anybody.”

The drama club comes out of the wings, some guilty and some smug. Yachi skips over and elbow bumps Hinata, while Yamaguchi winks. “Shut up,” the redhead complains, and then Kageyama’s siblings rush over in a wave.

“NOW can he come over?” Sakura begs, smirking.

“No,” Kageyama says, at the same time Hinata agrees, “Absolutely!”

“Don’t worry,” Aia announces, “we can hang out without him.”

“Uh, no?”

Hina wraps her arms around Hinata. “Yes?”

“She’s found my weakness…” Kageyama groans, crossing his arms. “Fine. But only because you lot have to be monitored before you’re unleashed onto the world.”

“Yesssssssss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rant with me @socially-acceptable-username on tumblr?

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: socially-acceptable-username


End file.
